


Cagney Captivation

by ZoeyWinterRose



Series: Cuphead and Mugman Oneshots And Other Stories! [2]
Category: Cuphead (Video Game)
Genre: Blackmail, Boss Fight, Cagney being a dick, Character Death, Crying, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, I'm Bad At Tagging, I'm Sorry, I'm not sorry, Mental Breakdown, Mugman trying his best, Tickle Fights, cuphead being a good brother, mostly angst, my children didn't deserve this, soul contract, venting
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-23
Updated: 2017-10-23
Packaged: 2019-01-21 23:36:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12468512
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZoeyWinterRose/pseuds/ZoeyWinterRose
Summary: Cuphead fights Cagney Carnation. Things don't go as well as planned.





	Cagney Captivation

**Author's Note:**

> This is just a bunch of headcannons! The ones being explored for this one is just how the brothers act and live. The main thing there is when their heads are empty, they die. The less liquid they have, the weaker they get. Also, I'd think Mugman is very polite so he'd refer to all the bosses as Mr. or Mrs./Ms. 
> 
> Also, towards the end, it went from me having fun to me venting my frustration out on my boys. Sorry bout that!
> 
> THIS GOT FANART!! OHH IT'S BEAUTIFUL!!!  
> https://askpapertails.tumblr.com/post/167053145601/inspired-by-zoeywinterrose-fanfic-cagney
> 
> MORE FANART WHAT THE HECK YOU GUYS ARE LOVELY!
> 
> https://shawzii-drawz.tumblr.com/post/169948392038/based-on-a-fic-called-cagney-captivation-by?is_related_post=1#notes

They hadn’t gotten very far yet. They still hadn’t left the first part of the island after all. They’d just dealt with the Root Pack and that was fairly simple, though Cuphead suffered a few cracks. It wasn’t too big of a problem for Mugman, though, as he was used to patching up his brother. Sometimes back at home, Cuphead would fall too far out of a tree or slip and hit his head. Of course, these bruises were a little worst than that but still nothing too bad. 

Now the boys were just wandering. They both had ideas of where the debtors were, they just wanted to be sure the other was ready for the fights.  
“What about Miss Hilda?” Mugman suggested as he looked in the direction of the zeppelin woman.  
“I don’t wanna fight a girl right now, too bruised for that. Gotta look good for a girl and I look like terrible.” Cuphead crossed his arms and frowned.  
“No ya don’t, Cup, you look good.” Mugs set his brother’s straw straight as he spoke, a smile on his face. No matter what they’d been through, Cup never changed. 

Instead of responding, Cuphead looked at his brother. Mugman was distracted by the straw. He grinned and tackled Mugs to the ground. The other mug squeaked, clearly startled.  
“Gosh, Cuphead, what was that for?” Mug looked up at his brother, who was currently sitting on his stomach, with confusion. The only response he received was a grin. “Uh-oh… Cup? What’re ya plannin’?”  
“Nothing, bro! I’m hurt you’d accuse me of anything at all!” Cuphead faked a hurt tone but his grin never left his face.  
“Yeah, ya are! You’re a bad liar!”  
“Well, fine, Mugsy, ya wanna know so bad I’ll just have to show ya!” 

Mugman burst into a laughing fit as his brother tickled his sides. He tried his best to roll away from the touch but with Cuphead sitting on his stomach, he found much difficulty in this. The laughter brought him to tears.  
“Cup! Can’t…. Breathe!!!” He gasped between laughs. Cuphead got the message and, laughing with his brother, plopped on the ground beside him. They lay side by side, giggling and looking at the clouds as they rolled by. A few minutes passed and they both had calmed down but neither had stopped smiling. Mugman turned to face his brother. For the first time since all of this started, Cuphead looked happy. For Mugs, that was the best thing in the world. He moved closer to his brother and clanked their heads together. It was something simple to others but to them it meant something. It was an understanding between them, something that said more than a thousand ‘I love you’s. 

“Hey!” Cuphead’s voice broke the peaceful silence. “Wasn’t there some flower schmuck?”  
“Um…” Mugman reached into his hammerspace and pulled out a list. “Yup. Cagney Carnation.”  
“Let’s just get this flower outta the way. Should be easy!” Cuphead proclaimed. “What’s the worst that can happen anyway? I get poison ivy?” 

 

~~~~~

 

Vines whipped through the air and barreled through the ground. Both fighters were getting tired but neither were willing to surrender.  
“Give up yet, you overgrown weed?!” Cuphead shouted.  
“Give up?” Cagney replied, tilting his head innocently. “And let go of the opportunity to use your head for my coffee? Haha! Not even in your dreams.”  
And the fighting continued.

Mugman watched as his brother jumped and ducked, snapping his fingers with lightning speed. Beams of light from Cuphead danced with the seeds and vines. It would’ve been beautiful if it wasn’t such a violent fight. He looked at their enemy. The giant flower was getting more and more desperate. Mugman saw the panicked movements of their opponent and sighed with relief. It looked like he and Cuphead were going to win. Until he looked at said cup, that is. His brother was sweating a little and breathing very heavily. He was getting clumsy, stumbling almost directly into attacks. A seed hit the brim of his head, taking off a chip. 

Mugman rushed over to his injured and tired brother. “Cup, let me take over!” He pleaded. Cups shook his head and pushed his brother behind him, continuing to shoot at the flower. Even if he lost, he was determined for Mugman to live. Said mug was looking at his brother with worry. Then he had a moment of realization: the reason Cuphead was struggling so much was because his head was getting empty! The less they had in their heads, the weaker they both got. If they completely ran out well... Mugman didn’t like to think about that.

He reached into his hammerspace and pulled out a clear jug containing milk.  
“Cups!” He called for his brother who looked back at him, shooting blindly at his target. When the shooting one saw what Mugs was holding, he grinned.  
“Nice going, Mugsy!” He leaned back, letting his brother pour it into his head. He shivered as a rush of energy shot through his entire body.  
“Make it last, it’s our last little bit.”  
“Yeah yeah, I’ll be careful.” 

Cagney watched the exchange between the two brothers. He grunted as he watched Cuphead grow less tired and more energized that’s to that no good mug! The grin on the cup’s face was what the flower would consider ‘shiteating’. He was becoming worried, though. He knew he was pushing his limits. He knew he wouldn’t last much longer. He wasn’t going to become a weak flower again or give his soul away! He had to think of something….  
He had an idea. It was an awful, terrible, wicked idea. But it had to work. He had to do it. His smirk grew wider and more crooked. Some would say he looked terrifying. 

“So, runt, whatcha gonna do when ya beat me?” He chanted to the cup. Cuphead seemed surprised at this, his grin wavering slightly before he answered.  
“I’m gonna get rid o’ these annoying thorns you put in my arms, first of all!” Cuphead shot. “Then, I’m gonna take my brother to the nearest garden and burn it down! I don’t wanna deal with any more of you bastards!”  
“Cuphead!” Mugman protested to this, not wanting to destroy anything without cause. “We’re not destroying-”

He didn’t get to finish. Vines came out the ground and wrapped around his ankles. 

Mugman was yanked into the air. He screamed and reached for his brother.  
“Mugs!” Cuphead growled and turned to the flower. “You let him go! This doesn’t involve him, you bastard!”

The flower laughed as he tossed the mug from vine to vine like a ball, watching the milk rise and fall out of his head and splatter onto the ground.  
“Of course he is, Cups! He needs my soul too, after all! And golly, wouldn’t it be bad if you boys took it?”  
“No! This is between you and me! Mugs ain’t done anything wrong, you giant freakin’ weed!”  
The opponent broke into robust laughter that seemed to echo all around the island. Cuphead stared at the monstrous flower in front of him, the rage causing the milk in his head to boil. He couldn’t believe this flower, this plant, was throwing his brother around like that. His fists clenched tightly. That flower was going to pay for what he’s done.

Then he heard a sound that made him pause. It sounded soft and fragile. He looked in the direction of the sound. His eyes widen. He could feel his soul wither at the sight before him. Mugman, his brother and only reason to fight, was in the grip of this menace with tears rolling down his cheeks. Soft sobs came as hiccups. Cuphead was a mixture of angry and worried, scared and confused. Mugman didn’t cry often even if he was more of a crybaby than Cup. It was when he saw the splatters of milk all over the ground did he realize why his brother cried. This flower was making it splash on purpose. He growled and took aim at his enemy. His tunnel-vision was focused on the face of the fiend. 

“What’s wrong, Cuppy~?” Cagney sang. “Don’t like your mugs empty~?”  
At that moment, several things happened at once. The flower held Mugs by his ankle, causing the remaining milk to splatter onto the ground. A bright, almost blinding, blue light shot towards Cuphead’s target with the snap of his fingers. The flower scream and tossed the mug to the side. As his body started to wither, his screams became more horrifying. Cuphead wasn’t focused on that, though. 

He rushed over to his brother and held him up. Mugman’s eyes were shut. His handle had a piece missing from it and a crack went down the back of his head. He was unresponsive. His breathing was slow. His head was empty.  
“No no, not today Mugsy!” Cuphead’s voice shook along with the rest of him. “I can’t lose you! I won’t lose you!”  
He reached into his hammerspace. No liquids. He squeezed his eyes shut. Mugman had the rest of their milk. His brother gave the last bit of it to him.  
“Oh Mugsy, why couldn’t you just let me suffer through that fight?”  
He didn’t have time for a one-sided argument. He needed liquid and he needed it fast.

The river and shop were much too far. He didn’t want to leave his brother alone anyway. He kept his eyes shut, not wanting to see his brother in the state he was in. He could feel the breathing get more and more shallow until it wasn’t there at all anymore. His eyes snapped open. His brother’s entire color seemed to have paled. There was not a single sign of life coming from the usually happy child. 

It broke him. He hugged his brother closer and let the sobs break lose. It was his fault. He finished their supply. He let his brother get caught. He did nothing as the flower tossed his brother around because he was afraid; afraid of the very thing that was happening now. That had happened. 

In all his crying and self-degradation, he didn’t notice something important. He didn’t notice his brother’s chest had started rising and falling again. He didn’t notice the shallow breathing start up once more. He didn’t notice his brother’s eyes flutter open and stare at him. 

He didn’t notice until a hand touched his arm very gently. 

He snapped his head back and looked at his arm. Then he noticed everything. He grabbed his brother tighter, not wanting him to see the tears.  
“Oh, Mugsy!!! You’re alright! I mean, I didn’t doubt ya would be though!”  
There was no vocal response to his rambling, just a slow and gentle pat on his back. He glanced down at his brother. Mugman looked happy, a small smile on his face, but he also looked tired. He looked drained. Cuphead looked inside his brother’s head and realized why. A small puddle of tears was pooled at the bottom. His tears had saved his brother.

He released the mug from his grip but kept an arm on his shoulder. His brother opened his mouth as if to say something but shut it.  
“S’okay bro. You ain’t got the strength but that’s okay. Let’s go get some milk from Porkrind’s.” Cuphead spoke softer than normal as he held his brother up. Mugs nodded and, with Cup’s help, slowly stood. He leaned heavily on his brother. Cuphead didn’t mind, though. 

Mugman lifted his hand and pointed. Cuphead’s gaze followed the finger being held up and snickered. Where Cagney Carnation once stood, screaming like the damned, was a rolled up contract. Carefully and slowly, he took his brother to it and handed the paper to him. Mug store it away in his hammerspace and nodded to his brother.

“Maybe ya shouldn’t be walkin’ so soon, Mugsy.” Cuphead grinned. “Lemme take care of that.”  
Mugman cocked his head to the side slightly, confused as to what his brother meant. Until he felt himself get lifted up, that is. Cuphead moved his brother onto his shoulders, holding him in place so he wouldn’t fall. Mugman smiled very weakly and crossed his arms over the rim of Cups head, laying his head on his arms.

“Now,” Cuphead grinned up at his brother. “Let’s get you some milk. And some extra milk, just in case this happens again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hope ya enjoyed! I like this one a lot more than the other one! Let me know whatcha think and if you have any ideas for my next Cuphead story, let me know!


End file.
